lostmoonchild: Ohayo! It's Friday again and thanks for the review! Last chapter even I thought was sad and I honestly don't remember what kind of mood I was in that day. This one had been bothering me for a while before it was written and it fit so well for afterwards. The last chapter or two of this story is still not wanting to be written so I'm stabbing at it and procrastinating for as long as humanly possible. Anyway, here's the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM so don't sue.

Chapter Thirty Five

Even when injured it was amazing how much her brother could easily tuck away into his stomach before he was full. Lili sighed as she brushed her now black hair out of her eyes before checking her brother's injury. It wasn't healing up as quickly as she would have hoped it would but it wasn't infected. God only knew what kind of trouble that could bring since they couldn't turn to either a church or to a hospital for anything in fear of getting caught.

Allen watched his sister's face and brushed her hair to the side, seeing the surprise etch itself onto her features for a moment. "You're worrying again." Allen said with a bright smile. "My injuries aren't that bad now and I've been eating pretty good."

"That's just a miracle, Allen. I don't want to take you to a hospital for any reason."

"You've never asked which door leads to the place I took Kanda and Alma."

He was trying to make her shift her attention to Kanda instead of worrying about his injuries. Unfortunately for him it wasn't going to work. He knew full well that she had the kind of attention that wouldn't easily be distracted unless she felt more of an inclination to do whatever was being offered. Right now, though, she wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to face Kanda without trying to kill him for stabbing Allen. "And you've never asked how I've been ensuring we've had enough to eat." Lili retorted patiently as she put away the unused bandages. "Or even where I've been getting the medical stuff."

"Don't ask, don't tell." Allen responded as he carefully sat up. "I've been thinking. We're on our own now. Technically we're not part of the Black Order but I'm not joining up with the Noah clan knowing that they've hurt you."

Why he didn't kill Tyki when he had the chance was beyond him but he couldn't afford to think about that now. He'd think about it later when his sister was out of the Ark trying to do something to take care of them until he could move without worrying about his injuries. "We're our own side." Lili said with a small frown as she sat down so her back was leaning against the couch. "Sounds about right."

"We need to be careful from now on."

"No letting ourselves be seen without reason."

"Without a way to escape."

"They'll hesitate."

"So we can't hesitate to escape. Any Innocence we find, we keep until we can ensure that somebody from the Order will find them."

"Or if we get too many pieces, I'll just sneak them in myself."

"How many will be too many?"

"I don't know. When it becomes too painful, I suppose."

It bothered Allen to see his sister in pain but right now it just bothered him that her beautiful silver hair was now black. Their hair colors were just light enough that they could essentially get away with any color that they pleased. She had already bought enough hair dye for them to use and most of it was temporary. "You realize we can probably be twins now." Allen said softly.

"Yeah. You realize though that I'm going to need to make one of my eyes look as if it's blind so no one suspects anything. Somebody with two different eye colors is bound to stand out in memories."

"Yeah."

Lili kissed her brother's hand before giving him a patient look. "We'll manage okay, Allen. I'm going to go see if there's somewhere in the Ark where we can grow our own vegetables and if there is, I'm going to go to a town and get some seeds. Then we can do a little gardening."

"You may have to create a room."

"God help us then."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

A mission with Bookman was one thing that Lavi knew would require him to study more and hopefully he'd be able to get his mind off of Allen. As he walked through the streets trying to find some information, he couldn't help but notice a woman wearing a shawl following him. Was she an akuma?

The redhead ducked into an alleyway and watched the woman walk by, pausing only long enough to glance down the pathway and shake her head before continuing on her way. No, if she had been an akuma then she would have attacked him out in the open instead of just following him only to continue on her way.

Suddenly curious about whom the woman was, Lavi began following her. He noted how she walked and how she always kept her head down just to avoid speaking to anybody. The woman before him was Lili; he could just feel it in his bones. "Flower!" Lavi called.

The woman stopped for a brief moment before quickly walking again. It was her. If she was here then Allen had to be nearby. He never knew the two to willingly be apart unless they needed to do something that required the other to not be around. "Flower!" Lavi called again.

This time she stopped and allowed him to catch up. "You're an idiot." Lili said softly as they walked together.

"Where's Allen."

"Resting. His injuries are still healing. The worst of them almost got infected. Thankfully they didn't cause I've got this nasty feeling that any hospital I take him to will report that we're there to the Church."

He didn't know why she was being nice enough to give him an update on Allen's well being. She should have felt betrayed that he had done nothing but watch as Allen was tortured for information that he didn't have. Why was she telling him? "Don't get me wrong. I hate the Black Order but I'd rather not side with the Noah clan." Lili told him as if sensing his thoughts. "Allen still loves everybody at the Black Order and considers it home so he's naturally going to remain on the Black Order's side even if he has been ditched."

"What about the Fourteenth?"

They continued walking in various directions, appearing to the public as two lovers out for a stroll. "What about him?" Lili questioned finally.

"I thought he was possessing Allen."

"Not at the rate the stupid bastards were thinking he was. Just because Allen can shift over to a Noah's appearance doesn't mean that he's siding with them. Tyki and Road busted Allen out and he ditched them as soon as he could."

It was a relief to know that Allen wasn't helping the Noah clan although now he couldn't get Bookman's words of there being a third side to the war out of his head. "So you're doing what Allen can't." Lavi said softly.

"I didn't want to chance him getting caught. You and I both know he'll be executed."

"I know. Technically every Exorcist has the order to kill the both of you on sight but none of us is going to."

Lili was silent as she picked out some vegetables before asking, "Have you ever heard of an Apocryphos?"

Lavi searched his memory before nodding slightly. "Rumors. Supposedly it's an independent Innocence that's located near the Heart. Why?"

"Because it tried to kill Allen. Spilled some bullshit about his Innocence wanting to be absorbed."

The redhead stared at the current raven, seeing the silent anger in her eyes. "You're serious. An Apocryphos tried to absorb Allen?" Lavi questioned softly.

"Yes. It murdered General Cross and that upset Allen even more. My faith is wavering, Lavi. Yuu's thought to be dead and Allen's being hunted down for something that's beyond his control." A sigh left her lips. "I thought Allen was loved by God but now I wonder if God's so superficial that He would abandon my brother in his darkest hour. Also thinking that the Heart has a sick sense of humor."

There was genuine love and fear though Lavi couldn't find any words to comfort her. "Can I see him?" Lavi asked softly, noticing how Choker tightened slightly around the woman's neck at her comment about the Heart. "You know how I feel about Allen and that I won't hurt him."

Her mind screamed for her to say that he couldn't but her heart knew that Allen wanted Lavi. All his life he had given all that he had and then some and now all of his giving had been thrown into his face. He had tried to do something for himself once and that had backfired horribly so now he tried to only give without acting on his own wants. "Fine. If you hurt him though, the Apocryphos will be the last thing you'll need to ever worry about."

There was a warning look within her eyes that told the redhead that she was being dead serious. "Sure." Lavi said with a bright grin. "I have only one question though."

"What?"

"What happened to your eye?"

Lili's fingers touched the corner of her milky green eye, entertainment showing on her face. "Looks terrible, doesn't it?" Her voice was soft. "Don't worry. It's not permanent."

"If you're blind-"

"I can still see, Lavi." She closed her blue eye. "You just look all clouded. It's like you're standing in fog." Her eye opened again so she could gaze at him with both eyes. "I'll wash it out later."

The Bookman apprentice followed the woman, watching as she clutched her shawl tighter around her. They moved into an alleyway where he could see the Ark's door etched into a wall. "Lili… You opened a door here?" Lavi questioned.

"I've been to more places than Allen. If he needs to get somewhere that he hasn't been to then I open the door for him." She smiled as they walked down the abandoned street within the Ark. "Allen! Keep your door unlocked, okay? There's someone that you'll want to see."

A door opened in the middle of the street and laughter left her lips as Lili ran through the door. Lavi followed silently behind, his breath catching in his throat as he stared at Allen and saw that there were fewer bandages on him. "Lavi." Allen said softly as he stood up.

"Don't overexert yourself." Lili scolded as she rushed over to her brother and helped him stand. "Stupid."

"What are you doing here? I thought…" Allen's voice trailed off as his gray eyes showed confusion. "You brought him to me, Lil?"

Lili shifted slightly as she replied softly, "You always say his name when you're sleeping. I thought you might want to see him again."

"Thanks, Lili."

Lavi gave Allen a bright smile before hugging the white-haired Exorcist tightly as Lili stepped away. "I'm gonna go get more food and medical stuff. There's this hospital in London that's just full of interesting thingamabobs. I'll leave you two to catch up or whatever." Lili informed them, adverting her eyes as the two exchanged a soft kiss. "Nothing too strenuous so have fun."

Silently opening the door to leave the room, Lili glanced back and smiled sadly to herself as she felt her chest clench tightly in pain. Allen could have his happy ending, it didn't matter to her. She had her breath of happiness for a brief time and as she felt the door close behind her, she couldn't stop the tears that fell in a silent cascade down her cheeks. Without a sound, Lili ran towards the nearest door and threw herself into whatever nameless town Allen had been to once upon a time.

lostmoonchild: I'm actually not entirely positive I know what I was feeling with this one or even now that I've gone through it again. I was pretty pissed last night so I'm still exhausted since getting pissed off just makes me tired. Anyway, we'll see you guys next week so ja ne!